ON RBI MONETARY POLICY REVIEW

GetamberAnand, President, CREDAI National
The 25 basis cut in the repo rate is a welcoming step by RBI. More so,the 75 basis points cut in the marginal standing facility (MSF) iseven a more important announcement by the governor. The most excitingpart of this announcement was governor making the comment that the RBI will push banks to actually cut the rates on lending for homeloans and automobiles loans. This rate cut to end user will be thereal reason of joy for CREDAI. Having said that, we also understandthat at this point of time the banks are burdened with NPAs, whichcalls for a higher amount of provisioning. This will act as keydeterrents for banks to cut rates on retail lending. But we still arevery hopeful that home buyers will get at least a 50 basis point cutin home loan rates. This should definitely go well for the industryat large.

Prashant Tiwari, Chairman, Prateek Group said
The first bi-monthly policy of this new financial year has brought with it a rate cut of 25 basis points, which is a welcome move by RBI. The revision in rates would accelerate the economic growth and real estate in particular. Liquidity issues have been the focus of this monetary policy which in a way was very significant. Also the new maths of MCLR would make interest rates more sensitive to policy changes making borrowing cheaper than before. Although we are expecting more rate cuts in future, the competitive interest rates at present has brought win-win situation for both the buyers as well as developers

Sanjay Rastogi, Director, Saviour Builders Pvt Ltd
The rate cut was an expected move and it is clear that markets will rejoice the reduced interest rates. High interest rates could lead the economy towards sluggishness; therefore, it was a required step to aid economic growth. The cut was a balanced move considering the inflation trends and CPI. The reduction in rates would ease the liquidity issues eventually pushing sales and giving the much needed respite to the real estate sector. The move is expected to encourage home buyers to finalize their purchasing decision especially activating the fence sitters.

Manoj Gaur, President CREDAI NCR & MD, Gaursons India Ltd
The revised REPO rate by the Reserve Bank of India will definitely impact the sentiments of the real estate market in a positive manner. Banks will now be able to offer loans at more attractive rates. Cheaper loans for home buyers will prompt the interest of people in property purchase from end users and investors. Banks may revise the base rate too, which would benefit old home loan borrowers who are currently paying much higher interest rates than new borrowers would. We feel that this would be an important move by banks and help them contain client attrition. Side by side, this move seems to put positive impact for the real estate developers. The real estate developers might envisage a marginal reduction in the cost of funding, which would be a real relief from the incessantly growing development cost.

Gaurav Mittal, Managing Director, CHD Developers Ltd
The central bank’s decision to reduce repo rate by 25 basis points will make home loans cheaper, and also increase liquidity in the banking system. We are hopeful that the increase in the liquidity along with the improvement in the health of the economy will boost demand. Cheaper loans for home buyers and rising demand will create renewed interest in residential property purchase from end users.

Shailesh Puranik, Managing Director, Puraniks Builders Pvt Ltd
We welcome the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s credit policy announcement of a repo rate cut by 25 basis points (25 bps or 0.25 per cent). The RBI Governor’s move is timed perfectly as the rate cut announcement has come just before Gudi Padva, one of the most auspicious periods for buying a new home. Considering the overall market scenario, we were expecting at least a 50 basis points cut from the central bank this time. We hope that the banks and financial institutions will pass on the benefit of the rate cut to home-buyers. We are sure that the RBI announcement will have a positive impact on the market sentiment, especially when it comes to home-buyers.